A Con's Family
by Cubismus
Summary: AU. Neal Caffrey is 15 years old. He might be young but he is still a fraud, a con and a thief. In order to get information from the FBI he claims to be the nephew of Peter Burk. He lives with the Burks because they believe that his parents just died and they are his only relatives left. But what will happen when Neal gets in real danger and he has no one left to trust?
1. Chapter 1

Hello!

This is my first White Collar-fanfictiont. It is AU, Neal is fifteen years old, everyone else is still everyone else. There is no slash and no spanking.

I hope you will like it! I am sorry for any grammar and spelling mistakes, I am not a native English speaker. Maybe someone wants to be my beta reader? Please PM me. :-)

Have fun reading my story.

* * *

"Are you sure about that, hun? " Peter glanced at her nervously. Normally he wouldn't bother to respect the speed limit, but now he drove even too slow. He didn't know if he even wanted to arrive at their destination.

"Sure about what, Peter? That we need to help a poor boy who lost his parents? We talked about it. He is the son of your cousin. You are his only relative. He is our responsibility now. And yes, I am sure." El explained briefly. Her voice was bitter and angry. She understood the worries of her husband. Nevertheless she believed that they needed to help.

"Come on, hun. I never met that cousin; I didn't even know that that cousin existed. Our great-grandfathers were brothers. I am barely a relative to that boy. And somehow it's hard to believe that there are no other relatives than me. You know, adopting a teenager isn't the same as adopting a puppy. It's not enough to play with him some hours, to feed him and to go for a walk three times a day. A teenager who just lost his parents is trouble. And we both know that we hardly have any spare time. We are both busy with our jobs. I don't think that we are the best for the boy."

"So you think a foster home is better than a loving family? If we don't have time, than we need to make time."

"How am I supposed to do that? Maybe I could ask criminals if they want to go to prison voluntary, just to save time. Do you think that would work?" Peter returned. He didn't want to argue with El. Again. Since they got the letter from social services two weeks ago they argued most of the time, but he really wasn't happy about the idea of getting a new family member.

"What's the matter, Peter? You agreed to me yesterday that we want to adopt the boy. That's why we are on our way to the foster home. What changed you mind?" Elizabeth asked.

"El… I don't know. I don't feel like a father. You will be a great mum, I know that. But I am not the kind of guy who can deal with kids especially not with fourteen years old kids." Peter admitted.

El relaxed and smiled. "You will do fine, hun. Don't worry, you will do fine."

-WC- WC-

-two months later-

"Neal, are you fine?" The boy on the passenger seat didn't answer. "Neal!" Adler repeated himself, but louder. He had stopped the car two blocks away from the house of the Burks.

The boy turned his head towards him. His gaze was empty, somehow confused, too.

"Where is Mozzie?" he asked. Adler looked at Neal worryingly. The boy was pale and his hands were trembling lightly.

"Mozzie is at the hospital. I explained it to you ten minutes ago. But Neal, are you fine?"

It was totally clear to Adler that Neal was anything but fine. He just wanted to know if the boy was able to do his job. Neal nodded slowly.

"I am just… tired. My leg hurts. Don't know why."

"You jumped out of window, you hurt it then. Remember?" Adler explained shortly.

"Yeah,… there were some men, I fell, they took me… Mozzie, how is Mozzie?"

Angrily Adler grabbed Neal's chin and checked his pupils with a flashlight from his mobile phone. Adler sighted unsatisfied. "You must have concussion. I don't think that you will return to the Burks tonight."

"I asked you about Mozzie. I know that I have a concussion. My head hurts like hell." Now it was Neal whose voice was angry, a bit louder but he still talked too slow. Adler was kind of relieved; it was the first normal reaction of Neal since one hour.

"I will not lie to you, Neal. You are not a small boy anymore." Adler started. He wasn't sure if Neal had ever been a small boy. Well, he must have been smaller once, but he wasn't sure if Neal had ever lived the life of a child, although Neal was very childish most of the time. "Mozzie got a head injury. He was unconscious when the paramedics came and Walter, who I sent to the hospital, said that he didn't wake up yet. The doctors can't guarantee for anything."

"So he might die?" Neal concluded. Adler wondered if Neal really understood what he just asked; if Neal really realized that he just asked if his best friend and his only family would survive.

"I didn't say that. But, yes, there are chances that he will die. Maybe not. Maybe everything will be just fine. We don't know anything yet. The accident was only two hours ago." Adler pointed out. Adler wasn't very good at comforting people, so he thought it was the best to just tell the truth. Neal would find a way to deal with it. He had to.

"It wasn't an accident." Neal replied. His gaze got vacant again, his hands started tremble more. _Great,_ Adler thought,_ now I have to deal with a traumatized teenager. _

"No, it was not an accident, Neal. You are right. But focus. You have to tell me _now_, if you can deal with the Burks. It would be a pity, but if you do not return tonight, they will think that you run away from home. They will search for you, but I will make sure that they don't find you. No one will be suspicious. After all foster children ran away from their homes all the time. I don't want to risk, that you blew your cover."

"No, I will go to the Burks. Don't worry, I am not that bad."

"I think you are."

"Don't worry. I will not blow my cover. I am a professional. I could con the Burks, even if I would have lost one leg tonight." Neal claimed confidently. It was the first time that he smiled slightly since… since the accident with Mozzie.

"Alright, if you think so. If something happens call me, I can get you out of every situation. Just do not mention my name."

Neal nodded. "Do you really think that I am that stupid to mention you name?"

"Leave the car, Neal. You have only two hours left until Mrs. Burk wakes you."

"Vincent?"

"Yes, Neal?"

"Update me on Mozzie. Please."

"I will, and now hurry up."

Neal left the car. He limped. Adler wondered one moment if he should drag Neal back into the car. Obviously the boy was hurt. Mentally and physically. But then again, Adler trusted in Neal's abilities. The boy was the best con he had ever seen. He was a natural talent.

In addition, if he took Neal home, he would have to take care of him. He couldn't just ignore the fact that the boy almost lost his only family tonight, the fact, that he might still loose Mozzie. If Neal was at the Burk's house, he wouldn't have to worry about Neal. After all it was Neal's decision to continue his job.

Adler turned the car around and drove away.

-WC-WC-

Neal looked at the treetop. Has the tree always been so high? Neal was exhausted. He just wanted to sleep. His leg hurt, he had no idea how he could climb up on that tree. Since two month he used that tree as his personal exit from the house of the Burks. At nighttime he used to meet with Mozzie. He could leave and come back whenever he wanted without the Burks noticing anything. Sometimes he did some jobs for Adler- as he did today. But today was the first day everything went so awfully wrong. Mozzie…

Mozzie… was unconscious. Neal began trembling again. He wanted to focus on how he could get into his room, but the only think he saw was Mozzie. He remembered how the paramedics came, how they took Mozzie out of his car. He was unconscious, his head had bled. His whole face was covered with blood. Neal had thought that he was dead. One Moment Neal had really thought that Mozzie was dead.

_'Focus, Neal'. _He said to himself._ 'You need to get into your room before El comes in'. _Since there was no way that Neal could climb Neal decided to sneak into the house through the front door. He hadn't got a key because his key was still on the drawer in the corridor, where all keys from the house were kept, but Neal could lock pick the door easily.

Neal just had opened the door, when Peter ran into him. Satchmo was barking excitedly.

"Nick? What are you doing outside? It's thirty past five in the morning?"

For a second Neal was surprised, maybe even shocked, but then he smiled at Peter.

"I wasn't tired anymore. I decided to go for a walk. You know, that's healthy." He explained. Peter looked at him skeptical, but then he smiled back. "Next time, take Satchmo with you."

"I will." Neal promised and passed through the door into the house.

"See you in half an hour. It would be great if you could make some coffee." Peter told Neal, as he ran after Satchmo, who already left the house. Neal closed the door behind him and leaned against the wall.

His heart was racing. Didn't Peter notice anything unusual? Didn't he notice Neal's pale skin? His exhaustion? Fortunately, Neal wasn't bleeding anywhere and his dark clothes seemed to be still fine. Maybe his hair was unusual messy, but all in all Peter really might not have noticed anything wrong. Lastly no one could possibly suspect a teenage boy to be a con, a fraud and a thief, who even conned his foster family.

Neal glimpsed to the drawer, where the keys are kept. His key was still there. He was so lucky. Peter didn't even notice that Neal had opened the door without a key.

Neal dragged himself into the kitchen and put the coffee machine on. He sighed. He didn't have the chance to go to sleep now. Not even for an hour. Neal sat down at the table. He listened to the dropping of the coffee machine. He looked out of the window. He tried not to hear the sound of the car crash over and over. He tried not to see Mozzie bloody face again and again. But he didn't succeed. Mozzie. What happened?

* * *

That's my first chapter. I think there are a lot of questions unanswered, but don't worry I will explain everything throughout the story :-) Please review. I love reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello!

Thank you for all your reviews! You can't imagine how happy a review can make me feel. I am sorry, that I took so long for the second chapter, but I promise I will post the next one faster. The chapter is not beta read yet, but I will work on it.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter two

-the night before-

_Neal had the music box in his hand. He knew that he should hurry even though no one has noticed that anyone broke into the Italian consulate. But Neal couldn't keep his eyes off the other thing in the save, where the music box was kept. There was a sketch made by Michelangelo. It had to be worth millions. It was certainly more worth than the music box. But Adler insisted to steal the music box. What was so special about that music box? Maybe Neal should just take the sketch, too. He didn't even need to tell Adler about it. He could keep it and Mozzie could sell it somewhere. _

_Neal just took the Michelangelo sketch, when he heard an alarm. What triggered the alarm? No one had noticed him, yet. Neal stood up, ran to the window and opened it. Neal hadn't planned to escape through the window but it was the fastest way now. _

_Three men ran into the save room. They were armed. For a moment Neal thought that they were cops, but they didn't show any badges and they were quite confused as they saw Neal and the save open. Neal's eyes widened. Was someone else planning to rob the Italian consulate tonight? _

_"Hey, kid." one of those men yelled. He had to be the head of the three robbers. Neal was standing on the window bench ready to jump out as he saw a gun pointed at him. "Aren't you a little too young for that business?" The same man with the gun asked. Neal gulped. What were the chances of the consulate being robbed by different robbers on the same day? He really had bad luck._

_"Now, kid. Come over here and give me the music box." _

_The gun was still pointed Neal. But somehow Neal managed to smile._

_"If you shoot me know, I will fall out of the window and with me the music box. It will break for sure. What good is a broken music box to you?" _

_The man stared at Neal angrily. They shouldn't underestimate Neal though he was probably twenty years younger than them. _

_"Let's make a deal." Neal continued. "You can have that sketch of Michelangelo, it's worth millions. I will keep the music box."_

_The man shook his head. "Do you think I am stupid? Give me the music box, you can keep that sketch. Come over here and give me the damn box. Police will be here in less than a minute. Go home, to your mommy and don't mess with adult business." _

_"Well, good luck with the police." The next moment Neal jumped. He reached the branch of a tree and prevented himself from falling on the hard ground. Neal climbed down the tree, what was quite hard because he still had the music box in his hand. The sketch was under his shirt. Neal heard some shooting behind him, but luckily the bullets missed him. _

_There was only two meters left to the ground when Neal slipped. He slipped, fall one the floor and twisted his ankle. He tried to stand up, but fall again because his sprained ankle gave in._

_Neal could hear his own heartbeat. There were not only some armed thieves after him, but the police, too. He needed to start to think. Mozzie was one block away waiting in a car. He had to go now. _

_Neal tried to stand up again, but this time he fell because something hard hit him on the head. _

_Before Neal could understand what just happened, the world went black._

_-WC-WC-_

_When Neal woke up, everything was blurry. Someone was carrying him, but Neal couldn't recognize the face. What happened? He didn't know. He just knew that his head felt like it was going to explode. He wanted to resist the man who was carrying him but he felt too weak._

_"Tie him up with cable stripes and put him into the trunk." Someone ordered. Neal knew that voice. It was the voice of the man who had pointed the gun on him. Now Neal remembered. The consulate, the other robbers, the fall, the hit… Neal was in big trouble._

_"I think he is waking up." The man who carried him said._

_"Doesn't matter, just tie him up. We don't have time; the police are coming after us." _

_The man dropped Neal on the floor, right next to a car. He put Neal's arms behind his back and started to tie him._

_"Why don't we just kill him and leave him here. It would be much easier." Some other man asked._

_"He was after the music box, too. But how old is he? Sixteen? He must have a boss and I want to know who that boss is."_

_After they have tied Neal's arms and feet, they put him into the trunk. Before Neal could do anything else they have closed the trunk and drove away._

_-WC-WC-_

_There was a crash. Neal had never heard such a loud sound in his life. There was a crash, something hit the car. Then there was silence. The car wasn't moving anymore and the buzzing of the motor had stopped. _

_Neal tried to understand the situation, but he started to panic. He was tied up into a freaking small trunk. He couldn't even stretch his back much less his legs. It was dark, too. _

_Neal never had claustrophobia in his life, but this was even too much for him. He tried to move, to kick against the door, but nothing helped. Was the car involved into an accident? That would explain the crash. Maybe the car was in fire and Neal was trapped here. Neal started to feel heat. Yeah, the car had to be in fire. It might only have been his imagination, but it was starting to get freaking hot. Breathing got harder. Neal started to scream. He moved and tried to pull of the cable stripes. But nothing helped._

_For Neal it felt like an eternity until the trunk was opened. It was still dark outside. Neal jumped out of the trunk and attacked the man, who opened it. But he couldn't do much since his legs and arms were tied. The man held him, while Neal still tried to free himself desperately._

_"Neal, calm down." Another man said. "It's us. It's me Vincent Adler." Neal still fought against the man, who held him, still in panic. _

_"Neal, calm down. We don't have time. The police and the ambulance are on their way."_

_Neal was now lying on the floor unable to move anything. After a few more second he recognized Adler. He breathed out. He was save now. _

_One of Adler's men freed him from his ties and helped him up._

_They were on their way to the car, when the ambulance arrived. Suddenly Neal realized, what had happened. He had been kidnapped by those other robbers. But Neal had been saved. Another car crashed into theirs. Adler pushed Neal into his car, but before he closed the door Neal could see Mozzie- Mozzie, whose head leaned against the wheel, bleeding. Paramedic came and dragged him carefully out of the car, which had crashed into the car, where Neal had been kept. Mozzie had saved Neal. Mozzie… He didn't move. But there was so much blood. Neal didn't know if the little man was breathing._

_"Mozzie…" Neal screamed._

-WC-WC-

"Nick, wake up, you are having a bad dream." Someone shook Neal's shoulders gently. Neal opened his eyes and looked about in panic until he realized that he was at the Burk's house. To be more precise he was lying on the couch in the living room covered by a blanket. It was Peter who sat next to him. He looked worried.

"What happened?" Neal asked confused. He could remember coming home, but that still didn't explain what he was doing on the coach.

"When I came back, you were sleeping on a chair in the kitchen. You had a fever. El and I decided to let you sleep, so we put you on the coach. Hell, why didn't you tell me that you didn't feel well this morning?" He asked, touching Neal's forehead to check if he still had a temperature. Neal sighed. Probably yesterday night was too much for him. That had caused the fever.

"I am sorry, Peter. But what time is it?"

"It's two o'clock. You not only missed school, but also breakfast and lunch." He answered and gave him a glass of water. "Drink. Are you hungry?" Neal took the glas of water gladly. His throat felt dry.

"No, I am not. But don't you have to work, Peter?"

Peter smiled. "Don't worry, Nick. I can work and keep an eye on you in the same time. I called Jones to work with me here. Hughes agreed. It doesn't matter where we do our work as long as we do it." Peter explained. Only now Neal noticed the tall Afro-American sitting at the table.

"Morning, Nick." Jones greeted Neal smiling. "Nice to meet you, kid. Peter talks a lot about you."

Neal smiled back and waved his hand shyly.

"I am sorry for the trouble, Peter."

"Oh, don't worry, Nick. But do you feel better? Do you need a doctor? What is it? A flu?"

"Yeah, I feel much better. I think I have stomach flu. But it is not that bad."

Neal sat up. Suddenly he recognized an item on a photo in Peter's files.

"Is that a music box?" Neal asked curiously. Was Peter working on his heist from yesterday?

"Yeah it is." Peter answered. "Someone stole it yesterday night along with a sketch from Michelangelo at the Italian consulate."

Neal gulped. He still had the sketch. He had put the sketch behind a cupboard in the kitchen directly after he had entered the house in the morning. The sketch, which Peter was searching for, was in his own house. Though he didn't have the music box, neither had Adler at least Neal thought so.

"Wasn't there a party in the Consulate yesterday? I read it on the newspapers. Have you checked the guests? Do you have any suspects?"

Peter seemed to be surprised that Neal had so much interest in his work, but somehow he seemed to be flattered, too. The agent had no idea who Neal really was. For him Neal was "Nick Burk", an average fourteen years old high school student.

"Yeah, we checked it. I didn't know that you are reading newspapers, kid. But I like it. There were four robbers. We suspect that there was a fifth one, too. But they got into an accident. The driver was dead when the paramedics arrived, the other three fled. They still have the sketch and the music box. But a witness saw some men rescuing a fifth person from the trunk of the car. They drove away before the police came, too. We don't know yet why there was someone in the trunk maybe it was a robber."

Neal nodded carefully. It was him, who had been in that trunk. He still shivered when he thought about being trapped in there. Actually he tried his best to do not panik.

"What is so special about that music box? The Michelangelo must be worth much more, don't you think?"

"Well, we think so, too. But two things are more worth then one thing. Why stealing only the Michelangelo when you can steal the music box, too?"

Neal nodded again, but he knew that there had to be something special about that music box.

"What kind of accident was it? Was there any civilian involved?" Neal wanted to know. He was hoping to learn something about Mozzie's condition. Peter raised an eyebrow. He really wasn't expecting that many questions from the boy. But still he had no reason to not answer him. Everyone could read about the accident in the newspapers tomorrow.

"Yes, a man crashed into the car of the robbers. He is unconscious. We really have no idea if he has any connections to the robbers. But mostly likely he was just drunk. The doctors said that the man drank a bit more than a one glass of wine before the accident."

Yeah, Neal remembered that Mozzie had a few glasses of wine before the heist. Mozzie had been completely against robbing a consulate, but they had no power to object Adler's plan.

"Is the man alright? I mean, he will not die, will he?" Neal's voice sounded a bit more desperate than he wanted to. Peter stroked Neal's hair smiling. Neal tried not to show that touching his head hurt.

"Don't worry about strangers, Nick. Maybe you should try to rest a bit more. You look like you got hit by a car, too."

Neal was quite unsatisfied with the Peter's answer. Moreover he had no intention to rest, when his friend might be dying. Neal had to find out, who those other robbers were. And he had to find out, why Adler had risked not only Neal's but also Mozzie's life for a stupid music box.

"What if the guy in the trunk was another robber, who wanted to rob the Italian consulate, too? Then those robbers met in the room, they kidnapped the other thief, because they wanted to know, who he is. They got into the accident and the other thief got saved, while the other robbers fled along with the sketch and the music box." Neal said without thinking that Peter might get suspicious.

Peter smiled at Neal unbelievingly.

"Nick, it very unlikely, that two robbers rob the consulate in the same time. That would really be bad luck. If you don't want anything else, try to rest a bit more. I have to do my work." Peter answered. He turned to Jones and tried to continue reading his files. He was slightly getting annoyed by Neal.

"Yeah, but it would explain the guy in the trunk." Neal argued.

"Nick. Sleep. Or go to your room. But let me do my work."

"The thieves were armed, weren't they? But don't they check the guests of the consulate? Maybe the thieves were employees. Maybe they hid the guns in the consulate days before, maybe the consulate received a present with weapons hidden in it. You have to check that." Neal tried to convince Peter. He didn't care about his cover. All Neal could think about was Mozzie. Mozzie was unconscious because of some stupid robbers, who wanted to kidnap him.

"Nick, go up, into your room. Call me if you need anything." Peter ordered, now getting angry about Neal's behavior.

"But… Peter…" Neal wanted to resist but as he saw Peter's angry stare, he gave up and went upstairs trying his best not to limp.

Neal would find those robbers. They would get into prison. They certainly deserved it.

-WC-WC-

Please review :-)


	3. Chapter 3

"Nick, how do you feel?"

Peter was standing in the doorway. Neal was lying on his bed; he was not sleeping but thinking about Mozzie and the music box.

"I am much better." That was a lie. But he couldn't explain to Peter that he felt sick, because he fell from a tree, got hit on the head and was involved into a car accident. But the worst about the last night was still Mozzie. Neal just couldn't forget the picture of the injured Mozzie. Neal would really like to talk to anyone about what had happened, but Peter was a federal agent. It wasn't like he would understand Neal or even help him. Neal was sure that Peter would do anything to help his nephew _Nick Burk_; but he wouldn't help _Neal Caffrey_, a con, a fraud, a thief… The best support Neal could hope for was a ride to the Juvie.

"Jones and I need to interview the guest of the consulate. Are you fine by yourself?" Peter asked. "Can I come with you?" Neal asked suddenly. Neal wanted to learn something about those other robbers. Maybe he would find out why Adler wanted that music box so much.

"Come with me?" Peter wondered.

"Yeah, I don't feel that good. I don't want to be by myself. Please, Peter." Neal whined and looked at him with his best puppy dog eyes. But Neal was honest; he really didn't want to be alone. Even if he couldn't talk to Peter about what has happened Neal somehow felt save with Peter. Maybe that was because he was a federal agent; or maybe because he _was_ something like a father to him. At least Peter was a really good father to Nick Burk, a boy Neal had made up.

Peter approached and touched Neal's forehead. "Well, you aren't running a temperature. Stay at home. If something is wrong, you can call me. El will be home in two hours."

"Come on, Peter. I will not disturb your investigations. Please."

Peter shook his head. "I can't take you to the bureau. But if you don't feel fine, I can ask the nice lady, who lives next to us, to take care of you."

"A babysitter? Really, Peter?"

"Well, it depends on how you feel."

Neal glanced at Peter angrily. Neal wished that he could just tell Peter who he really was; he just wanted to tell him that he could be very useful in his investigations, but he just couldn't. He sighed.

"I feel fine. Don't bother with calling anyone. Good luck with your investigation."

-WC-WC-

"I think Nick might have been right." Jones declared suddenly, while reading some files. They had interviewed guest from the consulate half an hour ago but they didn't learn anything useful. Diana and Peter looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" Peter wanted to know.

"Nick said that there might have been two burglaries in the same time. I think he might have been right. The cameras were tempered in two different ways. First someone hacked the system. Second someone sprayed black color on the cameras. Why the hell would someone spray on cameras if they have already been hacked?" Jones explained.

"Lack of communication between the robbers?" Peter replied.

"You don't really believe that, do you? Nick was right."

"Are you talking about Nick like Peter's nephew Nick?" Diana wanted to know. She still seemed to be confused. Peter nodded absorbed in thought.

"He must be a really smart kid. That was a farfetched but creative idea." Diana approved, while Peter shook his head smilingly. "I wish he would have those nice ideas in school, too."

"But let's work on that theory. It could be coincidence that two robbers met in the same time at same place to steal the same thing. But I don't believe in coincidences. There must be a reason why the sketch was so financially rewarding to steal." Peter concluded.

"Or maybe there is something interesting about the music box." Diana argued.

-WC-WC-

"Hello, I'm home." El greeted, when she entered the house, but she didn't get an answer. There was only Satch, who came to greet El. She was home an hour early, she was much too worried about Nick and thus she had hurried up and had finished her meeting with her client earlier. But her effort was for nothing as it seemed that no one was home. Briefly El checked all the rooms, but nobody was there.

El assumed that Peter took Nick somewhere. Maybe they went to see a doctor. El wondered if she should call Peter but then again she didn't want to bother them. Nick was fine with Peter and El trusted her husband. He would call her if something was wrong.

El saw some fast food left overs on the table. She assumed that those were from Peter and Jones. She didn't think that Peter would give Nick Chinese food when he had stomach flu. El didn't like that Peter ate fast food all the time at work but she couldn't expect him to cook neither. Not only that Peter hadn't got enough time but to be honest Peter was also an awful cook.

El just wanted to start to make herself some salad as the door rang. Satch barked loudly.

El opened the door and she saw a nice looking young woman.

"Good afternoon. You must be Mrs. Burk, I assume?" The young woman greeted El.

"I am. What can I do for you?"

"I am Nick's class teacher Miss Lena. He was ill today. I wanted to bring him his homework and his last class test. And I would like to talk to you." She explained politely.

"Oh." El was confused. It was never good if a teacher visited a student at home. "Come in. Nick went somewhere with my husband Peter. He was running a temperature in the morning. Therefore I called him in sick."

"Of course that is not a problem, Mrs. Burk. But I will explain to you, what worries me."

El offered Miss Lena a seat and made her some coffee. "So what worries you? Nick is a good boy. I can't believe that he makes any trouble at school."

"He doesn't." Miss Lena agreed. "It is something else what worries me. Today, when I asked who in the class would like to bring Nick his homework, nobody volunteered. I asked them who knew where Nick lives, but nobody knew anything again. Nick doesn't have any friend in class. I know he is the new kid in school and I know that his parents died not too long ago. But he doesn't seem to have any efforts to befriend with anyone. Everybody seems to like him; but nobody considers him as a friend."

El knew that Nick hadn't got many friends. Nick never got visited by friends but sometimes he disappeared for a whole day and told her that he was with a friend. She never asked who that friend was but apparently nobody from his school.

"Nick is a nice boy. He might be shy. He just moved to New York three months ago. Thank you that you care about him, but don't worry. He will do fine." El replied. "But I will talk to him."

"Thanks. But I learned something else about Nick today. When I insisted that somebody should bring him his homework the boy who sits next to Nick laughed and told me that Nick never does his homework anyway. But I said to him that I often ask Nick to read his homework out loud and he always has them. The boy claimed that Nick made his homework up on the spot. He said that Nick calculates all exercises on the spot without a calculator and that he reads a whole essay in English and even in French from an empty paper. Actually I am not sure if he says the truth, especially because Nick's exam results are quiet average." Miss Lena said and gave Nick's math exam to El. He got a "C+".

"Well, Nick is smart, but not that smart." El laughed. "He is a really nice person, but I don't think that he is a genius who can make up essays on the spot. Maybe his classmate likes to tell stories. Actually he learned a lot for the last math exam. He spent a whole week in his room learning."

Miss Lena nodded. Somehow it calmed her to know that Nick was an average student.

"Thank you, Mrs. Burk. The coffee was very nice. Please talk to Nick about making friend in class. You have a really well-mannered boy there. You can be proud of him."

"Thanks, I am proud of him. Even though I can't say that I am responsible for his good manners. His parents must have been great persons."

-WC-WC-

Peter went home early. He promised to his team that he would come early in the morning the next day and that he will answer to anything if they phoned him. Right now he wanted to be with Nick. Nick had been off today. Not only because he was ill but also because of something else. At least that was what Peter's gut told him.

"Hey, hun." El greeted Peter but then she looked at him surprised. "Peter, where is Nick?"

"Nick? He felt better. I left him at home. Isn't he here?"

Peter looked at his watch. It was six o'clock. Not that it was too late, but Nick felt ill today and as it seemed he told neither El nor Peter where he went.

"He wasn't home when I came. I thought he was with you."

"No he was not." Peter had a bad feeling. Something was wrong. Peter took his phone and dialed Nick's number but he got straight to the mailbox.

-WC-WC-

Somehow the steady sound of the machine that monitored Mozzie's heartbeat calmed Neal. It was the only proof that Mozzie was alive. Otherwise Neal's best friend was pale. Dark shadows were underneath his eyes. His glasses were on the table next to the bed; not on the little man's nose were they usually used to be. The glasses were shattered. Someone had tried to wipe the blood away, but the cracks were still red.

Neal touched Mozzie's hand gently. They were warm. Mozzie was alive. Neal couldn't stop his tears anymore. Mozzie looked so bad. He was alive, but he might still die. Neal hands began to shake. What if Mozzie died? What would Neal do? Neal lost his family once; he wasn't ready to lose everything again. Neal hadn't got anyone else. Adler was only interested in his business and Neal was only a tool to him. Neal was a prodigy with amazing skills as an artist and as a con; but he was nothing else to him.

Well, the Burks were something like family, too. But they only liked 'Nick', the nice high-school kid who lost his parents. Neal doubted that there would be any love left when they knew that he was a con. Probably they would hate him because he had used them. Neal tried his best to not get attached to them. One day they would learn who Neal really was. On that day they would boot him out. They would drag him into a juvenile prison. Neal tried his best to not think about them as a family because they were not.

"You shouldn't be here, Neal."

Neal flinched as heard the voice. He dried his tears, turned around and saw Adler.

"Vincent? What are you doing here?" Neal asked tiredly his eyes resting again on Mozzie.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"How did you know that I was here?"

Adler smiled evilly. "You remember that watch I gave you for your fifteenth birthday?"

"Yes?" Neal touched the watch at his wrist. It was a really nice watch, quite expensive but not too eye-catching. The teenager looked at Adler skeptically.

"It has a GPS tracker."

"Oh." Briefly Neal wondered why he didn't realize it before. There had been no reason for Adler to give him a watch. Adler gave Neal money; but he never gave other presents than that. Even a watch was a far too personal gift for a guy like Adler.

"Anyway, even without the watch your whereabouts are quite predictable."

Neal sighed. Adler was right. This was the only place where Neal wanted to be. And Adler knew it.

"What do you want to talk about?" Neal asked.

"About those other robbers. Do you remember anything about them? Names for example?"

"I didn't hear any names. I think I would recognize the main guy if I would see him. He had dark hair, dark eyes, not very tall, all in all an average guy. I think he had an English accent but I am not certain. But anything else is quite blurry. I think they hit me quite hard on the head. Sorry, Vincent."

Adler sighed. He took a chair and sat next to Neal.

"Do you need a doctor too check you out? You don't look good."

"I'm fine."

"Do you think you can draw a portrait of that guy you remember?"

"I guess I could but not now. I will give it to you tomorrow."

"Fine, tomorrow then." Adler agreed. "Agent Burk investigates that heist, doesn't he?"

Neal nodded.

"Does he have any clues who those robbers where?"

"No, he has no idea, what happened."

"Neal I want you to swap Burks mobile phone for this one. It's the same model as his but it is bugged. And I want you to bug Peter Burk's office." Adler explained and gave Neal a phone and some little gadgets, not much bigger than the buttons of a shirt.

Neal shook his head unbelievingly.

"I can swap the phones. But seriously? Bug his office? Peter never even took me to his office. How am I supposed to bug an office in a FBI building? That's crazy." He protested.

"Neal, do you want to know, who kidnapped you? Do you want to know who made Mozzie cause a major accident and get himself nearly killed?"

Neal gulped. Yeah, he wanted to find those guys. He nodded slowly.

"Then you have to do what I say. I want to know about everything Peter finds out. And this is the best way." He pressed the phone and the bugs into Neal's hand.

-WC-WC-

"Where the hell have you been, Nick?" The first one who greeted him was a happy Satchmo. The second one was a furious Peter. El was right behind him. Her face was nearly as grim as Peter's, which was really unusual.

"I …" Neal got the feeling that he was lacking something today. He forgot that he had been supposed to stay at home. He forgot that he had planned to return home before El. He was obviously late. Neal gulped. He couldn't think of a good excuse. "I went to a friend to get my homework. But I forgot time. I am sorry." Peter looked at him with suspicion.

"Nick, I think we need to talk."

That couldn't be good. The last time Peter and Neal had a talk was nearly a month ago, when Neal failed an English exam. Needless to say he failed it on propose. Well, he hadn't planned to fail it that bad. He had to admit that he must have miscalculated the points, thus the result got even worse than he actually wanted it to be.

Failing some school exams had been part of Neal's con. He had to make the Burks believe that he was a nice boy but with an average intellect – and an average boy failed some exams from time to time. An average boy had also serious talks with his father.

But this time was different than the talk three weeks ago, because this talk wasn't planned by Neal.

Peter and Neal sat down in the living room.

Neal put his folded hands on the table and tried making the most innocent face he could. Peter was sitting opposite to Neal. The teenager wondered if an interrogation would feel similar to this situation.

El sat next to Neal. It calmed Neal to have her next to him. He breathed out. This wasn't an interrogation – they were still a family. At least the Burks thought so.

"Nick." Peter began. "Where is your homework? You said you were at a friend's home to get them?"

Neal was definitely off his game. Neal got caught lying; that never happened to the young con.

He sighed. He really wasn't in the mood to play innocent, sweet Nick. But he had to. It was his job and the moment he stopped to play along the game he would end up in a prison or worse dead.

"I am sorry, Peter. I lied. I went to friend. But I went to a friend because I wanted to; not because of the homework. I know I was supposed to stay at home but I just couldn't. I wanted to trick you and return home before El but I forgot time." Neal admitted. The best lie as a lie which actually wasn't a lie.

Peter still looked at him skeptically.

"Hun, who is that friend?" El's voice sounded worried but Neal didn't understand why. What was wrong with having a friend?

"Someone from my class." The teenager shrugged. Were they worried about who his friends were? Well, that would mean trouble for Neal. How was he supposed to prove the opposite?

El and Peter exchanged skeptical glances.

"Nick, your teacher came today and talked with El. She told us that you don't have any friends in class."

"Miss Lena came?"

"Yes."

Neal pressed his lips together. It wasn't easy to act to be someone else for three months. Of course he had charmed all his class mates –everyone liked him; but Neal didn't let anyone any closer to him. It was just too hard to con someone into thinking that he was a friend. But apparently that had been a huge mistake.

"Did I say someone from my class? I meant someone from my school. Don't worry he is a nice guy; I can invite him if you want. I don't like the kids in my class that much." Neal explained smilingly now. He would have to invite a kid from his school. That wouldn't be too hard.

Neal could feel that El relaxed but Peter's face remained serious.

"What's your friend's name?" Peter asked.

"Michael." Neal answered automatically. Michael was a quite common name. Even if the Burks insisted to meet 'Michael' Neal would definitely find a boy called 'Michael', who would like to spend an afternoon with him.

"What is his last name?" Peter continued. El glared angrily at him. She knew that Peter had trouble to separate his work from his private life – her husband just started to interrogate Neal.

"His last name is… I am sorry… I am bad with names. I forgot. It's not like he is my best friend anyway."

Peter furrowed his brows. "Where does he live, Nick?"

The situation was starting to get critical.

"Three blocks away. You know that big, gray building?" Neal lied right to the agent's face. It's not like Peter could check it. Maybe he could since he was a FBI agent; but he certainly wouldn't.

"Yeah, I think I've seen that building. You mean that building with the many windows, don't you?' Neal had to suppress a grin. Peter was a fine agent. He immediately knew that Neal's answer was very vague.

"Yeah, it has many windows. But Peter, a lot of buildings have a lot of windows in New York." Neal liked to play dump. But he it was clear that Peter didn't buy Neal's fooling.

"Peter, I think this is enough." El interrupted. "Nick, sweetie, we don't want to interrogate you, we are just worried about you. We would like to meet your friends and we would like you to make some friends in your class." She stroked his hair gently; but she touched the place where Neal got hit the night before. Neal was surprised by the pain and winced suddenly.

"You alright, Nick?" Peter stood up and walked to Neal to check what has caused the boy to wince in pain.

"I'm fine." Neal wasn't sure if this was the truth or rather a lie. His head certainly felt better and the pain in his ankle has nearly stopped. But he couldn't say that he was fine. Actually he felt really bad.

Both, Peter and El, examined his head know. One of them touched his bruise too hard and Neal couldn't do anything but flinch.

"What happened, Nick? You have like a monster bump on your head. It's not even a goose egg but rather an ostrich egg. "Peter explained.

"I got hit by book which fell from the book shelf. I think it looks worse than it is."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. If you would excuse me, I have to do my homework now." Neal took the papers and his math exam from the table.

"You want to go to school tomorrow, Nick? You look better, but you don't look really fine." El questioned.

"Yes, I am sure. It's boring to stay at home. Moreover I feel much better. Please, stop to worry."

-WC-WC-

As soon as Nick went upstairs Peter and El exchanged worried glances.

"He lied to us, didn't he?" El asked unsure.

Peter nodded. He suspected Nick to have lied about his friend. He had also lied about the head injury. Someone had hit Nick – quite hard actually. But Peter couldn't think of a reason for Nick to get hit by someone and moreover he couldn't think of a reason to keep that a secret. Was Nick bullied at school? But that wouldn't explain Nick's mysterious disappearance in the afternoon.

"Something is off about him."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know – I have the feeling that he has a secret. A big one."

"Do you think he has a girlfriend?" El assumed suddenly.

"What?" Peter looked at El with surprise. That was a simple explanation to Nick's behavior. Why hadn't he thought about it?

"Yeah, you must be right. That would explain why he went out in the morning, too. And he met with her in the afternoon." El concluded. El must be right – it was so obvious.

"He got the bruise on his head from a fight with another guy – I had a lot of fights in school about girls." Peter explained.

"Oh, you had fights about girls others than me?" El teased him smiling.

Peter blushed. "Yes, but only because I've didn't know the most amazing woman at that time."

El hugged Peter. Both of them were happy because they got a reasonable explanation for Nick's behavior. Nick was still a normal teenager – and a secret girlfriend was the most normal thing a teenager could have.

here...


	4. Chapter 4

Tiredly Neal chewed on his bread as he watched Peter reading his newspaper. There was nothing of the tension of the evening before left. El was humming a song while she turned on the coffee machine. She smiled at Neal. '_A girlfriend' _Neal thought. They really thought that he had a girlfriend. After he had left the living room the evening before he had eavesdropped the Burks. He was very grateful for the idea El got. A girlfriend. Such an easy and naïve excuse for his behavior. _'Thank you, El.'_ Neal grinned. They would stop asking any questions because he knew that the Burks wouldn't want to step up to him. They would wait for him to tell them that he had a girlfriend himself. Maybe he would even tell them that at some point. Of course it would be a lie but Neal didn't care about that.

Peter checked the time on his phone. "Nick, I think you should hurry up if you don't want to be late. You are chewing on that bread for fifteen minutes now." Neal nodded. Peter didn't see that he had a new phone. Neal had swapped it for the tapped phone Adler gave him, when Peter had taken a shower. Neal had tried his best to scratch the new phone as the other phone was scratched and he swapped the SIM card and the module. Adler would be satisfied.

-WC-WC-

As soon as school ended Neal ran to towards the hospital. Adler had warned him to not go there anymore but Neal couldn't resist. Adler was worried if the nurses and doctors would get interested in the teenager since they hadn't found any relatives of the unconscious man. Moreover the police and even the FBI wanted to know who the man was. They wanted to know if he was involved in the heist or if he only had bad luck.

Neal had left his watch in the locker at school just in case Adler checked his GPS tracking data again.

Mozzie was still unconscious when Neal arrived, but not alone in the room. There was another patient sleeping and an elderly woman was apparently visiting that man. Neal smiled politely at her.

He sat down next to Mozzie and took his hand. He wasn't as shocked as the day before when he visited him.

"Is he your father or you brother?" The woman asked softly. Neal looked at her. Although she wasn't young anymore there was something lively, something beautiful about her. Her hair looked like she had been at the hairdresser's in the morning. And Neal liked her style.

"He is both. He is my brother, my father, my best and only friend." Neal answered and realized how sad that sounded. Usually Neal didn't like to be pitied but the woman's caring eyes resting on him made him feel warm. She went to Neal and put a hand on his shoulder. She was now watching at the little man in the hospital bed.

"How is he?"

"I don't know. He is unconscious since two days."

"Have you talked to the nurses?"

"No."

"Ten years ago my husband Byron was unconscious for two months. Two weeks after he woke up he ran a marathon. " The lady pointed at the man lying in the bed at the other side of the room. Neal tried to smile.

"Thank you. How is your husband now?"

"He will do fine. He is tough. He had business with wrong people. He got beat up."

Neal nodded. He wasn't sure if the woman was just optimistic. The other man looked quite bad, too.

"I am Neal by the way. Nice to meet you." Neal greeted the lady.

"I am June Ellington. Nice to meet you, too, Neal."

Neal looked at the watch on the wall. In two minutes the nurses would come to check on Mozzie. Neal knew their schedule because he didn't want to be seen by them.

"Mrs. Ellington, I have to go. Maybe we will see again." Neal stood up and shook hands with Mrs. Ellington.

"You can call me June. But wait a moment." June took her hand back. "If you need to talk or if you have any trouble you can visit me anytime." She gave Neal paper with her address neatly written on it.

"Thanks, June. " He blushed and read the address several times before putting it into his pocket.

"Neal, I would really appreciate you to visit me – even if you don't have any trouble."

"I will, I promise. I am sorry, June, but I have to hurry now."

Neal winked and went to the door. As he left a nurse entered the room. After the nurse realized that finally someone came to visit the unknown man she turned around, wanted to stop the boy, but he had left already.

-WC-WC-

Neal walked down the street. Somehow he felt better after talking to June. She was a nice, warm woman and Neal was sure that she knew already who he really was. She knew that he was a con. Neal assumed that her husband was a con, too, or at least he had business with criminals.

But right now Neal had to think about how he was supposed to bug Peter's office. He could just walk in and visit him. Children did visit their parents in their offices every now and then, didn't they? It didn't matter if Peter got angry because of that. Neal would only need some seconds to hide the bugs and after that Peter could kick him out.

Neal wondered if they would let him into the building if he explained that he was Peter's son.

Another possibility was to give Peter a bugged present which he would take into the office. Something like photo with him, El and Peter. Unfortunately such a photo didn't exist.

Neal took a shortcut, a narrow street, back to school to get his watch before Adler would get suspicious about what he was doing that long at school, when suddenly someone grabbed Neal's arm.

Neal turned around and saw a familiar face.

"Hello, kid." A gun was pointed to Neal's head. "Don't bother to scream. I will put a bullet through your head before someone can hear you."

Neal gulped. There were three men and one of them, the one who had grabbed him, was definitely the leader of the robbers the other day.

"Turn around, hands on the wall."

Neal obeyed. The young con was a magician in escaping out of critical situations, but not if a gun was involved.

One of the men took Neal's school bag and emptied it on the street; the other one patted him down and took Neal's phone from his pocket and smashed it.

The man with the gun picked up one of his school books, which was now lying on the floor, and opened it.

"This book is property of Nick Burk." The man read out loud. "Nice to meet you, Nick. You can call me Matthew. I think we will spend some time together the next few days. If I were you I would try my best to be my friend."

Then he found a paper in Neal's school bag which caught Matthew's interest.

"You are quite an artist, aren't you? I think this is a very nice portrait of me. Well, I guess that I usually don't look so angry, but if you consider that you only saw me in the consulate…"

Matthew studied the drawing with an evil grin. Neal closed his eyes. He really had bad luck. Today during break Neal had drawn the man he saw in the consulate for Adler. He should have drawn it at home not at school.

Matthew must have observed who had visited Mozzie. He had seen Neal and probably had even recognized him.

"Matthew, if this is about Michelangelo's sketch… I will give it to you. I don't need it."

Matthew laughed. "Yeah, you can tell me where that sketch is, too. But I am much more interested in your employer." Adler? He was interested in Adler?

"Okay, you can tie him up. Do it thoroughly, I bet that our young criminal is an escape artist, too." Matthew said to his henchmen.

After Neal's hands were tied up behind his back, they grabbed him and put him a van. Nobody had seen them. Nobody would know that he got kidnapped. But what worried Neal most was that Matthew didn't care about Neal seeing his face. Did they intend to kill him regardless of what he would tell him? Neal cursed because he had put off his watch. Would Adler realize that he got kidnapped? Or would he think that Neal ran away?

What about Peter and El? They would worry a lot. Somehow he hated to have them disappointed.

Neal had to think fast. He had to escape on his own as soon as he could. He couldn't bet on Adler nor on Peter, who didn't even know who Neal really was.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi :-)

Thank you for all the reviews. They really make me happy :-)

I'm still sorry for my bad grammar and spelling. But I will try to work on it.

Have fun reading this chaper

* * *

Peter gave June Ellington a glass of water. The elderly lady seemed to be quite surprised that she had been taken to the office of the FBI for questioning.

In the afternoon the hospital had called them and told him that someone has visited the victim in the hospital but the person got away before a nurse could stop him. Peter suspected that the unconscious man had some connections to the robbers, but he didn't know how they were connected. The unconscious man didn't have a driving license or any papers and moreover his car was unregistered. All in all, he was quite suspicious. But Peter couldn't interrogate the man any time soon since the doctors predicted that he would be unconscious for quite a long time. There was even a chance that he wouldn't wake up. Peter sighed. He was angry with himself that he didn't have put an agent to observe the man in the hospital.

But at least there was a witness who saw the mysterious visitor of the even more mysterious injured man.

"Mrs. Ellington. I'm agent Peter Burk. I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused."

"Oh, don't worry, Agent Burk. It's not a problem. But I would really like to know why I am here. "She replied smilingly.

"You were in the hospital room of your husband and the other unconscious man, when someone came to visit the man. Am I right?"

"Yes, I was there."

"Can you describe the visitor in detail?"

Mrs. Ellington looked at Peter in bewilderment.

"Of course I can. But is he in any trouble?"

"As far as I know he is not. But he could know something about an ongoing case." Peter explained.

Mrs. Ellington observed Peter's face carefully. She seemed to wonder if he told her the truth.

"It was a boy. He was maybe 14 or 15 years old. I can't imagine why the FBI is interested in him."

"Please, don't worry. I am not interested in the kid, but I have to know who the man in the hospital is. How did the boy look?"

Mrs. Ellington nodded.

"He had light skin, brown hair, blue eyes. He was not very tall but very skinny. If I had to guess which sports he likes, I would say he is a runner. I swear that I haven't seen such a handsome boy in years. He will be a real womanizer in few years."

Peter wrote the description down. Even though the woman seemed to have a good memory, her description wouldn't help much. There were a lot of boys with light skin, brown hair and blue eyes. The description would perfectly fit to Nick, too.

"Can you tell something else? Something like scars, birthmarks, something more descriptive…"

"I am sorry, I can't. That's the problem with handsome people. They don't have any eye-catching features."

Peter nodded. She was probably right. "Did you talk to him?"

"Yes I did."

Peter looked at her delighted. That was very good.

"Did you get his name?"

"He said his name is Neal."

"Do you know his last name?"

She shook her head.

"Fine, what did he tell you?"

Suddenly the face of the lady got sad.

"He told me that the man in the hospital bed was his father, his brother and his only friend. He looked so lost. Please Agent Burk; don't cause him any trouble because he looked like a boy who already had enough trouble for the rest of his life."

"I promise I will not. Did he tell you anything else? Is he a foster child? Does he live with the unconscious man?"

"I don't know but it might be possible."

"Anything else?"

"He came right after school to the hospital. He still had his school bag." Peter nodded.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mrs. Ellington. If you remember anything else, please call me. If you want I will tell an agent drive you home." Peter stood up and shook the hand of the lady.

"Thank you, Agent Burk. But I am fine by foot."

-WC-WC-

When you are kidnapped you are as valuable as the ransom someone is ready to pay or as valuable as the information you have. Neal was pretty sure that there was nobody who would pay a ransom and most certainly Matthew wouldn't ask anybody for a ransom. But information about Adler seemed to have value to Matthew. Thus Neal was as long of any value as Matthew didn't know anything. As soon as he told Matthew about his employer Neal's life would only depend on the benevolence of Matthew. And Neal doubted that Matthew even knew what the word 'benevolence' meant.

Therefore Neal decided to tell those robbers nothing. He would have to wait for a chance to escape.

Neal observed his surroundings. Neal's eyes had been blindfolded on the way to the kidnapper's place, so he didn't know where he was. But the room where he was kept looked like it was in a basement. There were no windows and only neon lamps lightened the room. There was nothing in the room except for Neal and the chair on which was tied up.

They tied him up with cable stripes, which would make it really hard to escape.

The door of the room opened and suddenly Neal felt his heart racing. He wasn't ready for this. Being a thief, a con, playing with the FBI was one thing, but being kidnapped by some real criminals was another. He gulped. He tried his best to look calm.

"Nick Burk. What a nice alias. You have some guts living with an agent from the FBI. How is it to live with a fed?" Matthew was standing in front of Neal now.

"It's boring. I have to go to school, walk the dog and I am not allowed to drink coffee yet. Sometimes the fed talks about his work. That's the only interesting." Neal explained still trying to be as calm as possible.

"So, _Nick_, what is your real name?"

"My name is Nick."

"Well, how about your last name?"

"It's Burk. You can check my passport and birth certificate. Both are perfectly fine."

"_Nick_" Matthew said sharply. "You can have it the easy or the hard way. I don't care. I will make you talk anyway."

"Oh come on." Neal grinned even though he really didn't feel like grinning. "'the_ easy or the hard way?' _You couldn't think of any better thread? Something more original?"

The next moment Neal felt a hard blow on his stomach. For a moment he thought he couldn't breathe. Seconds later he looked up to Matthew. He felt confused, angry… and scared.

"How do you feel about talking now, kiddo?"

Neal didn't respond. He just glared at Matthew. This was going to be a long day.


	6. Chapter 6

It was ten o'clock in the morning. Neither Peter nor El went to work today. They didn't sleep all night, too. Peter checked his phone every few seconds.

Nick didn't come home after school yesterday. First El and Peter haven't been worried. Yet, they have believed in their girlfriend-theory. But as soon as it got dark outside they started to have a bad feeling. They had tried to phone Nick, but all their calls went directly to voice mail. At nine o'clock in the evening Peter and El had started phone Nick's classmates. But nobody knew anything; nothing about where Nick might have gone and nothing about an alleged girlfriend. At eleven o'clock they have called the police. A policeman came and took a photo. He was quite polite and promised to do his best. Peter had called his colleagues but there was nothing they could officially do. Even if this was a kidnapping Peter's team hadn't got jurisdiction.

"Do you think it is my fault?" Peter suddenly asked.

"Peter, how is it supposed to be your fault?" El replied.

"Maybe he got kidnapped because somebody wants revenge on me."

"Peter, we don't even know if this is a kidnapping. The social worker told me this morning that adopted children use to run away. But they return after a few days on the street. Sometimes they return after some hours. She told me that some foster parent didn't even realize that their children wanted to run away." El explained. But she didn't sound that confident as she wanted, too. She wanted to believe the words she just said, but she couldn't. There was something wrong.

The next moment the phone rang. Both El and Peter jumped up, but Peter got the phone first.

"Peter Burk?"

"Good morning, Mr. Burk. I'm John Wright the headmaster of your son's school. I heard that he is missing since yesterday? Well, his classmates just found his school bag on the street. It looks like somebody had thrown them intentionally on the street. His phone got smashed, too."

Peter gulped. He didn't doubt anymore, that Nick got kidnapped.

-WC-WC-

-a few days later-

Neal was quite sure that days must have passed. He wasn't tied up anymore. He was lying on the cold floor. His hands still felt numb because he was tied up for a very long time on the chair. Neal couldn't open one eye because of it was that swollen. Neither could he breathe through his nose, because it was most likely broken.

Neal was quite sure that nobody was going to rescue him. The past few days (or hours?) Adler was his only hope. Every time the door opened Neal hoped to get rescued but it was always Matthew or his henchmen who came to interrogate him. Neal tried to get up and eventually he sat against the wall. He needed to get away. It was the first time since he got kidnapped that he wasn't tied to the chair. It has been one of Matthew's henchmen, who cut Neal's ties. Neal had the feeling that that man didn't completely agree with beating a kid up. The door was locked, but opening it was not a problem. He had a hairpin hidden in his shoes. But what worried Neal much more was how he was going to get to the door. He wasn't sure if he had the strength to get up. But he was determined. It took him a few minutes to crawl to the door.

Neal opened the door and thanked god that there wasn't a guard. Matthew must have believed that Neal was too hurt to run away. Well, he was right about that. Neal couldn't run, but he would make it outside.


	7. Chapter 7

Neal was still in New York. He didn't know the street he was walking on but he was quite sure that he wasn't far away from Manhattan. It was dark and Neal guessed that it was in the middle of the night. People, who passed him, glanced at him but then pretended to not see him.

Neal was quite sure that he looked _and smelled_ like a bum. Neal didn't wash since he was kidnapped but moreover he had puked a few times on his T-Shirt and he even had in his pants. Matthew didn't have the mercy to take him into a bathroom. Neal gulped and couldn't stop his tears anymore. Maybe that humiliation was even worse than the beating.

What was Neal supposed to do? Call Adler?

But he didn't really felt like going to Adler. He wanted to go home; to Mozzie. But Mozzie was most likely still in hospital. And even if he was awake, the young man had to worry about himself not about Neal.

Neal would even like more to go to the Burks than to Adler. They would ask a lot of question, but they would comfort him, too. At least until they found out who Neal really was.

But then Neal remembered the nice lady from the hospital? What was her name? June?

Neal still had the paper with her address in his pocket. He took it out and glanced at it. She said that he can come if he had any trouble. Well, he had trouble. She seemed to be a very understanding person; but would she still be that hospitable if Neal got to her house beaten up and smelling worse than a stray dog?

Neal wasn't sure, but he hadn't got a better plan either. Neal picked a pocket of a drunken man coming out of a bar. Then he got a cap. The taxi driver seemed to be quite unhappy about his client but didn't ask any questions when Neal gave him the address. Seconds later Neal fell asleep. He only woke up when the taxi driver started to shake him ruggedly.

Neal paid the man and got out of the taxi. His eyes widened as he saw the amazing house of the lady. Did she really live here? Maybe she had messed with him and she had given him a false address?

Nevertheless Neal wanted to try his luck and rang the bell.

A few seconds later he could hear steps walking to door. Then the door opened.

"Neal, is that you? Oh, my goodness, what happened to you?" Neal opened his mouth to answer but then closed it again. What was he going to tell her? _'Hi, I am involved in a major heist, which the FBI is investigating, and I got kidnapped by some crazy, sadistic criminals and was tortured for I don't know how many days. Can I please take a shower in your bathroom?' _

But June didn't wait for an answer. She took Neal's hand and guided him into her house. Seconds later Neal was sitting on a really nice couch. June turned on the light and Neal dazzled by the light for a few seconds.

"What happened to you, Neal?"

Neal looked up and blinked. He was still not sure what to tell her. He wasn't sure what June was thinking. She must have noticed that he smelled bad. _God that was humiliating. _June was still in her nightdress. Neal just realized how rude he actually was. He woke an elderly lady in the middle of the night and he didn't even excuse.

Neal wanted to say at least 'I'm sorry' but somehow his body didn't respond. He just kept looking at June.

-WC-WC-

June didn't know what to do. Suddenly that kid from the hospital had appeared. And he was in a really bad shape. His face full of bruises and the skin which wasn't blue, brown or green was pale. One of the boy's eyes was that swollen that it was closed. The nose of the boy was bleeding and it looked like it bled for quite a long time. The boy didn't respond very well. June wasn't sure how the boy even walked to her house. He seemed to be scared and confused. He was shaking.

There was blood on the shirt of the boy and something that looked like vomit.

Then June realized that the boy had the same clothes like four days ago, when she had seen him in the hospital. What happened the last few days?

"Neal, I think you need a hospital." June finally said. She couldn't tell how bad his injuries were.

Neal looked at her. He seemed to need some seconds to understand what she just said.

"No hospital." He mumbled. The boy's eyes were filled with tears.

"Look, Neal, I want to help you and I think you need a hospital."

Neal shook his head. "It's not safe." He responded.

Was somebody after the boy? June knew since she had seen him for the first time that Neal was involved into things in which a kid shouldn't be involved. But was it that bad?

"Okay, Neal. First you need to wash and change clothes. Can you do this?"

Neal didn't answer.

"Look, kid. If you are too hurt to even change your clothes, I am quite sure that you need to go to a hospital. You look like you need to sleep. And I can't let you sleep in your own vomit."

He still just glared, but then he nodded.

"Where is the bathroom?" He mumbled.

"I will help you to the bathroom. She helped Neal to stand up and supported him to the bathroom. She sat him down on toilet bowl and ran a bath.

Then she helped him out of his shirt. Her stomach twisted as she saw the bruises on his body. They even looked worse than his face.

"Neal, you need to the hospital. I don't think that this is any good. I think you have your ribs broken and heaven forbid you might even have internal bleedings."

"No hospital." Neal responded again. His eyes were nearly closed.

"How about my family doctor? Can I call him?"

Neal seemed to think about it, but finally he nodded.

June stopped the bath even though it was only half full but she wanted prevent that Neal possibly drowned because he fell asleep while taking a bath.

"Okay Neal. You have to take your pants off your own. Do you think you can do that? I will leave the bathroom. You have to get into the bath on your own. I will bring you some new clothes."

Neal nodded.

-WC-WC- WC-

June brought Neal some clothes from her husband Byron, who was still at the hospital, and a towel.

Neal seemed to relax in the bath. June hadn't been sure if the boy even had the strength to get into the bath by himself. But now Neal seemed a lot better. He had even soaped his hair on his own.

June decided to leave him for some more minutes in the bath.

After June had called her doctor, who didn't seem to be happy to have to come over at three o'clock in the morning, she dialed another number.

"Peter Burk?" A voice responded tiredly. June was certain that it was the best to call the agent. In whatever Neal was involved, a federal agent could help. And even if Neal got into a juvenile prison, it was still better than getting beat up like that.

"Peter Burk. Here is June Ellington. You interviewed me three days ago about the visitor in the hospital. I'm sorry about the late call… but… that visitor turned up at my house."

The agent yawned. "What does he want?"

"Well, I guess he needs help. He got beat up quite bad. I mean really bad. He is still a kid, Agent Burk. He refuses to go to the hospital. I think he is involved into something severe."

"I will send an agent to your house. I'm currently not working…for family reasons. Keep him as long as you can. He isn't violent, is he?"

"God no! The kid can barely walk. But Agent Burk I feel better if you would come."

June could hear the agent sighing but he agreed anyway.

"I will be at your place in fifteen minutes."


	8. Chapter 8

Peter rubbed his eyes. Today was the first day he actually fell asleep since Nick disappeared. Unfortunately it seemed like he wouldn't get another night of sleep. It was past three o'clock and he was waiting for Mrs. Ellington to open her door. If the guy (or boy as June had explained several times) knew anything about his John Doe in the hospital, he might get a clue about those robbers. Most likely Peter would have a lot of work. Normally he wouldn't mind; he would even be happy to get something to work on, but today was different. All Peter could think of was Nick.

Three days had passed since Nick was kidnapped, but they knew nothing. Finally Mrs. Ellington opened the door.

"Agent Burk thanks for coming. I really have no idea what I am supposed to do."

Mrs. Ellington had tears in her eyes.

"You are welcome. So tell me what happened? Where is he?" Peter asked.

"He is in the living room, sleeping. The doctor is on his way. I think I should call an ambulance, but Neal just keeps saying that it is dangerous. I am actually not sure if he should sleep since he might have a concussion." She explained.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, let's keep the boy awake. Call an ambulance. I am with him. Nothing can happen."

Mrs. Ellington nodded and showed Peter the way to the living room.

-WC-WC-

Neal slept for a while, when suddenly someone shook his shoulders gently. It was gently but it still hurt.

"Nick? Wake up, buddy. Nick, what the hell happened?" Someone shouted. The voice was in panic and somehow angry at the same time.

Nick? Why would someone call him Nick? Oh. It was one of his aliases. Neal had several aliases like

Steve, Danny or George. So now he was _Nick_. Who was Nick again? Oh, Neal remembered. Nick was a nice high-school kid.

"Nick. Open your eyes. I need you to stay awake."

Neal tried to listen though he really wanted to sleep. But the man next to him really seemed to mean it. After a few seconds Neal opened his eyes slowly.

"That's great, buddy. Look at me. Don't fall asleep again."

Peter? How the hell did he get home to Peter? But then again the living room wasn't the living room at the Burk's house.

"Where am I?" He asked slowly.

"At June Ellington's house. I have no idea how you got here, Nick. What the hell happened? How the hell are you connected with the man in the hospital?"

"Mozzie. How is Mozzie?"

"Who?"

"Is he alive? He saved me."

"Okay, kid. You calm down. We can talk later. Just try to stay awake. The ambulance is on its way."

"No hospital. Please."

"We are going to a hospital, Nick. They will take good care of you and I will be there. Nothing will happen."

Neal nodded. "You will stay with me?"

"I will. I promise."

Neal smiled. Neal closed his eyes again.

"Nick, stay with me. You can sleep later."

But the world went black.

-WC-WC-

Neal woke up in a hospital room. Peter and El were both next to his bed. They slept on quite uncomfortable looking chairs. Peter was sleeping loudly, while El's head rested on his shoulders.

Neal sighed. His memories from the day before were quite blurry. He remembered escaping from the crazy criminals' place. Somehow he got to June Ellington's house and for some reason Peter came, too. Peter had been nice to him. He did help Neal. Nevertheless they would start to question him. They would ask him about Mozzie, about the last view days. Eventually they would find out that "Nick Burk" was a fake identity. That was what scared Neal most. Somehow he felt really bad about losing his life as Peter's and El's kid. It had been fun to be a normal teenager.

Now he will have life in prison. Well, in a juvenile prison. Maybe Adler will save him from that. Then Neal would have to forge paintings until nobody remembered him anymore. It wouldn't be that bad. He would have enough money to buy whatever he wanted.

He should have called Adler from the beginning. Then he would stay at Adler's home with his doctor without several FBI agents watching his door. But yesterday he didn't think clearly. He made a mistake.

Peter woke up. After some seconds he realized that Neal was awake, too.

"How are you?"

"Fine, I guess." Neal answered.

Peter looked at Neal. There was an awkward silence for a long moment.

"My colleagues found out that Nick Burk isn't real. You have perfectly faked curriculum vitae, but we called every previous school you allegedly went to. You have records of going to those schools, but nobody actually remembers you. And nobody remembers your alleged parents, though their life is also perfectly forged. So Neal is your real name? Or did you give Mrs. Ellington a fake name, too? "

Neal blinked a few times. They knew that he was a con. Game over.

"Yeah, my name is Neal. For real."

"How about a last name, _Neal_?"

"Caffrey. My name is Neal Caffrey. I think you would have figured it out anyway. I ran away from a foster family like six years ago."

"Where did you live after that?"

"I spent a lot of time on the street. When I turned ten I learned to con my way into some hotels. Eventually I lived an amazing life in some very expensive hotels."

He met Mozzie on the street. He met Adler at one of those Hotels.

Peter looked at Neal skeptical. Peter would have to learn that Neal wasn't Nick. Neal was capable of doing so much more than the boy Peter thought Neal was.

"How are you connected to the man in the hospital?"

Neal shrugged his shoulders. "He is a friend of mine."

"What's his name?"

"Mozzie."

"Mozzie? That is his name? His last name?"

"Actually I don't think that it is his real name. But I don't know his real name. I always called him Mozzie."

"So how are you and Mozzie connected to robbery at the Italian consulate? And what the hell happened to you?" Peter leaned forward and stared at Neal. But El started to wake up, too.

"I have nothing to do with the robbery. Neither has Mozzie. Sorry, Peter, for conning my way into your family. But I will not admit anything else."

El looked at Neal. She yawned before she asked Neal: "How are you, honey?"

She was still calling him honey? Maybe she didn't know that he had faked his way into their family.

"Fine. Thanks for asking, El." Neal answered. He tried not to show how uncomfortable he was because of El's friendliness.

"So, how am I supposed to call you? Nick? Neal? Anything else?"

Neal looked at her with surprise. She knew who he was? But why the hell was she still that nice to him?

"Neal is fine." The boy answered shortly. How could El possibly be that friendly? El nodded. Somehow her face seemed to be sad.

"Neal, you still haven't told me what had happened to you." Peter asked again.

For a moment Neal stared at Peter. Should he tell him about Matthew? Should he trust him? Neal would have to go to the juvie anyway. But then he remembered Mozzie saying that a fed is not to be trusted.

"I fell down the stairs." Neal finally answered.

"You fell down some stairs?" Peter didn't buy it. El looked at Neal unbelievingly, too.

"Neal, you are obviously a victim right now. I don't care about what you have done. But tell me who did this to you."

Should he really tell him about Matthew? But if he told Peter about Matthew he would find out about Neal's and Mozzie's connection to the robbery. Although Neal didn't cared a lot about going to a juvie, Mozzie would certainly hate him, if he got to the prison because of him. The last thing Neal wanted to risk was his friendship to Mozzie.


	9. Chapter 9

Peter walked down the corridor of the hospital. Neal was staying here since eight days but today was the day he got released. Well, not released into freedom but into Peter Burk's custody.

First Peter had wanted to put Neal into a juvie because this was actually the place he belonged to but the doctors had told him otherwise. Peter remembered very well what the doctor had said to him:

_"Neal is emotionally troubled. Since we put him off the pain meds he wakes up several times a night. He is confused and mostly scared. But he doesn't trust anyone, doesn't talk about what had happened. Most of the times he pretends that nothing had happened. He acts cool and puts on his charming fake-smile. But believe me, if you put him into a juvenile prison, you will destroy him." _

Peter sighed and looked at the anklet he held in his hands. He really wasn't fond of the idea having Neal at home. El still seemed to love the boy. She didn't seem to care about what he had done. Maybe she didn't want to understand that Nick, the boy she had loved, had been all faked. The first two days El was most of the time at the hospital with Neal. Peter was scared that Neal would con El again. Therefore he forbade any visitors including El. El haven't talked to him because of that until he had told her that Neal was going to stay with them.

Peter didn't want El to get attached to Neal. He would only stay at their place until the case was over and until they had found a better place for Neal.

He arrived at Neal's room. He greeted the agent who was guarding the door and told him that he could go.

Peter walked into the room and saw Neal standing at the window. He was fully dressed into some really nice clothes the agent had never seen before. Neal stared outside. He hasn't even noticed that Peter had entered the room.

"Neal?"

Neal didn't respond. It seemed like he was lost in thoughts.

"Neal?" Peter asked a bit louder and walked towards Neal.

The boy still didn't answer again.

"Neal." Peter touched Neal's shoulder. Suddenly Neal shrugged; he turned around and pushed Peter away. He wanted to run away but Peter was faster and held him.

Neal struggled and hit Peter a few times. First Peter didn't understand. Neal had never been violent; not even in the past few days. And if this was an attempt to escape, it was really badly planed.

But then Peter understood. He understood as soon as he looked Neal into the eyes. The boy looked scared; his eyes were filled with tears. But the most shocking was that Neal didn't seem to recognize Peter.

"Neal, calm down. It's me. Peter. Peter Burk."

Neal stopped to struggle and looked at Peter confused. The boy was pale. There was sweat on his forehead.

"Neal, do you recognize me?" Peter asked and was starting to get worried. Maybe it was too early for Neal to get released. Maybe the doctors should check his head again.

Neal seemed to think really hard. Peter was just about to call a doctor when Neal suddenly relaxed.

The boy who had looked scared to death a moment ago somehow got his confidence back and smiled charmingly. "Of course I recognize you, Peter. I mean it's not like I could forget your face since you came here more often than anyone. I think I saw you even more often than my doctor." There was something mocking in Neal's voice. "You really must like me, agent Burk."

Peter ignored his comment. Neal might act cool but Neal was anything but alright.

"Neal, I think you are not ready to leave the hospital. I will call a doctor right now."

Neal shook his head.

"I'm fine, Peter. Really, I was lost in thought and you startled me."

"Lost in thought? Neal, you struggled with me about a minute before you stopped."

"It's a reflex. It's your fault because you hold me." Neal explained. His voice sounded hurt and desperate.

"I don't believe you. Maybe your head got hit even harder than we thought."

Peter went to the hospital bed and pressed a button to call the doctor.

-WC-WC-

Neal looked at his new shoes. They were really nice. Real leather. Handmade. June had brought them to him two days after he had come to her house. She also brought him a few nice pants and shirts along with a really nice coat. Neal didn't understand why she bought stuff for a stranger.

Neal really enjoyed the time with June but she didn't come anymore. It hurt Neal that the woman he just started to consider to be a friend didn't come to visit him for a week.

El had been there the first two days, too. Neal had stared to believe that El wasn't angry at him. That there was chance that he could still be at least friends with El, but then she stopped visiting him, too. He couldn't blame El. He had conned her for months. If there was anyone to blame, it was him.

The absence of any visitors made his stay at the hospital much harder. Peter came from time to time but both, Neal and Peter, tried to keep distance. Peter used to ask some questions and Neal answered them as long as he wouldn't make any trouble for him or Mozzie or Adler.

"The doctor will have the results in a few minutes." Peter explained. He was standing next to Neal watching him carefully. Neal nodded.

After incident in the morning Peter wanted the doctors to check him out another time.

"Agent Burk?" The doctor was entering Neal's room. "May I talk to you for a moment in private?"


End file.
